deb perelman is a true queen.

amongst the kitchen goddesses of the internet, smitten kitchen reigns supreme in my heart (read: stomach. they’re the same thing right?). when i came across her recipe for double chocolate banana bread last month, i knew i had to make it. and i knew it was going to be delicious.

sourdough discard and overripe bananas are two things in constant supply in my brooklyn apartment. i love whipping up a batch of banana bread or banana baked oatmeal over the weekend and bringing it to work for breakfast for the remainder of the week — it makes the entire kitchenette smell heavenly and i never fail to get compliments from coworkers as i’m warming it up 🙂

i’ve adapted the smitten kitchen recipe a bit to create a sourdough discard version. i’ve swapped out…

• some flour for a hearty portion of sourdough discard
• butter for coconut oil to make this lighter and dairy-free
• all the brown sugar for a tiny bit of honey

most internet recipes are far too sweet for my personal taste, so i’ve decreased the amount of sweetener substantially (1-2 tbsp honey). feel free to adjust the honey to the sweetness of your liking.

when i make this for breakfast, i add walnuts to the party for a healthy kick of omega-3’s, and significantly reduce the amount of chocolate chunks. this is completely optional. turn up the chocolate and omit the walnuts if that’s how the banana bread spirit moves you.

venturing into the unknown world of mix-ins and non-flour/water/salt ingredients has always intimidated me. i get nervous about the crumb closing, or the additional ingredients weighing the dough down, or the dough becoming way too sticky.

i didn’t approach experimentation as a way to be creative, as a way to keep developing my craft, a way to learn more about sourdough. i was more nervous about messing up a few times.

i let these thoughts hold me back from trying a bunch of new, fun things — until this year 🙂

the inspiration behind this loaf comes from a baker i really admire in this regard, @fullproofbaking. her beautifully curated, colorful instagram feed showcases many, many unique flavor combinations, the kinds that i’m always dying to try, but scared to.

when i saw this loaf on her feed, it gave me the final push to adapt and bake this yellow, punchy turmeric onion sourdough. this bread is soft, fragrant, and carries so much flavor on its own. i’d recommend eating it plain, the same day it’s baked, untoasted.

here’s to doing all the things that scare us — especially (i’d like to think) if the thing that scares us involves baking lovely, delicious things into bread.

notes

don’t skip the lamination step — it builds strength and yields a wonderful open crumb and soft, light texture. for lamination pointers, check out the video in my guava cream cheese recipe.

you could use oil instead of butter to sautee the onions, but i’m partial to butter (self explanatory).

as always, tweak levain and bulk times for when your kitchen is colder or warmer. for me this means closer to 9 hours in the winter, and 7 hours in the summer.

baker’s percentage & basic timetable

the percentages for water and flour only account for the final dough build, and do not include the levain formula build.

2019 has been the year of einkorn. i am nothing short of obsessed.

this is how serious it is: i haven’t been able to stop thinking about it since trying a 100% einkorn sample loaf from bread alone at last year’s growNYC home baker’s meetup in march 2018. i even splurged on a 2 lb bag of nice, local flour milled from farmer ground flour. $7 is not chump change when it comes to a small bag of flour.

einkorn is an “ancient grain”, in the same family as emmer and spelt. it’s known as the oldest variety of wheat, and also for its friendliness to folks with gluten sensitivities. i love it for its nutty taste (which comes through very strongly in higher percentages), and the softness it gives my bread.

speaking of which, this bread is SO soft — and i would really recommend eating it at least once un-toasted.

i love eating a slice of this with an egg for breakfast, dipped in a butternut squash soup, or honestly just with a pat of butter. it eats well plain, but also holds up well to toppings. i bet it would be amazing with some hummus and vegetables.

i have also cut this bread into cubes, let it dry out over a couple days, and made a savory kale, mushroom, parmesan bread pudding.

this recipe assumes you’re familiar with some basic processes already, and already have your own starter. i plan to write about both of these things in future posts, but haven’t gotten there quite yet. thanks for your patience!

bakers percentage & recommended schedule

the percentages for water and flour only account for the final dough build, and do not include the levain formula build.

a note on seasonal adjustments: tweak levain and bulk times for when your kitchen is colder or warmer. for example, in the winter, i increase levain to 29%, bulk to 8/8.5 hrs, and in the summer, i decrease levain back to 25% and bulk for shorter — maybe 7 hrs. this will totally change depending on how your kitchen carries heat.

oh doug. he’s the neediest entity in my life. he’s all bubbly when it’s warm, all sad and frumpy if it’s too cold. he demands feeding once, if not twice a day. he likes to be taken out, and can’t be left alone too long.

doug is my sourdough starter, but if he sounds like a pet, you wouldn’t be too far off (fun fact: the name comes from ‘dough’, but with the ‘h’ dropped. other contenders included ‘dunior’ and ‘jane dough’).

i, like many sourdough bakers before me, accumulate a ton of sourdough discard from daily feedings — aka naturally fermented dough that can’t be used to bake sourdough bread anymore. throwing away massive quantities of flour seemed wasteful and unnatural to me, so i went in search of recipes i could make with it.

it just so happens that crackers are one of the easiest things to make with discard.

unfortunately for me, crackers have never been my favorite thing. to me, they are the thing you eat when you really actually want to eat chips instead, but also want to feel healthy.

so what’s a cracker-skeptical girl to do?

my version on a classic wheat cracker is reminiscent of a much better cracker, the cheez-it. it’s got a generous amount of parmesan for cheesiness, the tang from the starter, umami from the seeds, and a collection of other spices to add a kick at the end.

notes

for an updated discard cracker recipe, please refer to my rosemary crackers.

the rise time on this is not precise. i usually let it rest for at least 4 hours, but have forgotten about it for up to 8 hours without impact.

you can either choose to cut them before you bake bake into neat shapes, or break off pieces post-bake after they’ve cooled for a more rustic feel (or you’re like me and are just a bit lazier).

careful not to over-bake! the cheezits will either burn or turn out a lot harder than intended, which will make them difficult to bite into.

some fun variations

• for even cheesier cheezits, i’d recommend increasing the amount of shredded cheese to 1/2 cup. would recommend halving the amount of salt to balance out the saltiness of the cheese.
• for nuttier cheezits, sometimes i add 2 tbsp of seeds, a blend of flax and sesame seeds

store them in tupperware or glass jar or keep them in the freezer for almost ever. though to be honest, they’re so good, mine never last that long.